Many of us will know that Frank Greally has edited the Irish Runner's 'bible', Irish Runner Magazine, for many years now. Well, today Frank launches his latest book, "Running Commentary" which is a wonderful collection of his thoughts and recollections of Irish athletics over many years. I was lucky enough to be given a preview copy and can tell you it's a wonderful read and a perfect last minute Christmas present for any runner you might know, or indeed for anyone with an interest in Irish sport. It's a beautifully written work and is wonderfully presented in easily digested sections that enable the reader to dip in and out of the book at any point.
Book Front
We hope that Frank will be able to attend our race on 26th December and will be available to sign copies of the book. In the meantime you can obtain a copy of the book by contacting Frank Greally on 087-2569690 or at
email: [email protected]
We wish Frank every success with this fine publication.
************************************************************
Book Reverse
Press Release
Running Commentary – A journey to the heart of Irish athletics
Con Houlihan’s Boglark Press launches new book from Irish Runner editor Frank Greally
Wednesday 17 December – 6.00-8.00pm: O’Shea’s Merchant Bar, Lower Bridge Street, Dublin 8
Athletics is now a minority sport in Ireland, but it wasn't always that way. It was the country’s major sport throughout the 19th century and for about 20 years afterwards.
The birth of the GAA in 1884 saw Gaelic football take root in almost every nook and many crannies in the island. Athletics survived, strong in some places but barely alive in others.
We all show great interest now during the Olympics, the World Championships and the European Games. This interest is greatly enhanced by RTE’s coverage and the analysis of Eamonn Coghlan, Jerry Kiernan and Sonia O'Sullivan.
This generation has been fairly good for Irish running: Sonia O'Sullivan, Catherina McKiernan, Eamonn Coghlan and John Treacy have provided the peaks. Of course there have been slack periods: in those, a brave magazine called Irish Runner has been the sport's Bible.
Its editor, Frank Greally, came home from a distinguished running career in America a little over 30 years ago and gave up a permanent and pensionable job to found a magazine that we take for granted today.
He has now put together a candid account of his running career from his early days in Mayo to his later days in East Tennessee. In Running Commentary he goes to the very heart of the sport. It is a book about more than athletics: it gives you intimate insights into life itself.
Contact Frank Greally on 087-2569690
email: [email protected]